Switch devices may be used to switch voltages or currents in electronic circuits. In many applications, switch devices are implemented using transistors like field effect transistors (FETs), bipolar transistors or mixtures thereof like insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). Such switches in some applications may for example be used to selectively couple a load to a supply voltage. In some applications, high supply voltages, e.g. of the order of some 100 V, may be required.
Therefore, when the switch is in an open state (i.e. a state where the switch is essentially non-conducting between load terminals), a comparatively high voltage drop may be present at the switch. In some cases, for example radiation like cosmic radiation in such a situation may cause a generation of carriers, which are accelerated by an electric field corresponding to the voltage drop, which may in turn lead to an avalanche breakdown of the switch. In particular, a small area of the switch, also referred to as a filament, may become conducting by the generation of carriers. Current conduction through such a filament, which may have a comparatively small diameter, may lead to irreversible damages to the switch, for example due to overheating. Such irreversible damages in some instances may occur already after about 50-100 ns.